Baked Zucchini Fries with Pesto Yogurt Dipping Sauce Recipe

I knew I hit the jackpot when my self-described zucchini-hating son (M) sat in front of a plate of these baked zucchini fries and plowed through half of them in one sitting.

“Are you sure this is zucchini?” he asked for the fifth time, looking at me suspiciously as though I was trying to pull some sort of voodoo witch doctor wool over his eyes.

M is a very healthy eater and typically avoids anything that has the word “fried” in it or is laden with extra sugar. He’s a soccer player and a runner, and he is determined to eat well to help keep himself in shape. So, standard French fries are not something he chooses to indulge in.

Instead, we substitute baked versions for foods that are typically fried, such as baked French fries and crispy baked chicken tenders. Truth be told, we all enjoy them more than their fried counterparts. Less grease, better flavor. It’s a win-win.

This recipe really couldn’t be any easier. One medium zucchini produces several servings of fries, and the 3-ingredient pesto yogurt dipping sauce takes them from really good to awesome. The trick to the crispy, golden brown texture on the outside of the fries is cooking them in a hot oven and using panko bread crumbs, which lend much more crunch than standard bread crumbs.

If you have neither whole wheat panko bread crumbs nor whole wheat pastry flour on hand, don’t let that stop you from making these. Regular panko bread crumbs and all-purpose flour will still produce healthier zucchini fries (hey, they’re still not fried, right?), and great flavor and texture.

#EatSeasonal

#EatSeasonal is the brainchild of my friend Becky of The Vintage Mixer , who has pulled together a group of bloggers to post seasonal recipes each month, using her produce guide as inspiration.

There’s a fantastic variety of recipes, some sweet and some savory, as you can see in the collage below, all inspired by produce that is fresh and seasonal in July. Be sure to click on the links to check out the recipes. For more seasonal recipe inspiration, follow the #EatSeasonal hashtag on Instagram.

Ready to create a healthy lifestyle through food, exercise & habits?

Comments

Your son sounds like my husband! Put something healthy in front of him, especially zucchini, and I get HATE.
So, if yours ate these, then maybe there is hope. If not, I’ll eat them ALL myself because that dip? I LUHVE. Pinned!

I made this over the weekend at a family braai and everyone loved it. Made an entire oven tray fill and it got wiped out. I added some Parmesan to the crumb mix. The chips were crispy and totally yummy. Even the Kids all loved it. My hubby who hates zucchini even said I need to make it again. Thanks

These do look nice but – one portion is only four fries? Is that a typo?

Otherwise I’d feel pretty cheated if I made these and could only eat four for 112 calories! That’s a lot of calories for not much food, especially considering in the write up you say they are so healthy that it’s okay for your son to plow through half a plateful. Kind of misleading…